Interfaith conference aims to increase understanding of Uyghur genocide

The Uyghurs in China are facing detention, forced labor, and cultural erasure, prompting a call for global action at an interfaith conference organized by The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity on Thursday.

According to RFA’s article, survivors, experts, and religious leaders discussed the situation and urged governments to promote pro-Uyghur policies and pressure businesses profiting from Uyghur forced labor.

It adds that the foundation faces two major challenges in raising awareness about the Uyghur genocide. The first challenge is the Chinese government’s “information blackout policy,” making it difficult for Uyghur families in Xinjiang to communicate with relatives overseas and for the press to get first-hand information. The second challenge is getting celebrities to draw attention to the genocide, as China is a major market for U.S. and Western movies and goods, making it harder to activate them due to financial interests.

The participants in the event stressed that the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act of 2021 and the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 require the U.S. government to take action that will impose consequences on those who commit genocide or other atrocities.

An estimated 1.8 million mostly Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic ethnic groups have undergone “re-education” camps in Xinjiang, in China’s far northwest, as part of a larger effort by Beijing to wipe out Uyghur culture and religion. Some of the detainees have been subjected to torture, rape and psychological abuse, reports from activists have revealed.